Mixer taps

ABSTRACT

A mixing valve comprising a chamber having a surface defining a valve seat, hot and cold water inlets opening into said chamber at said seat, a valve member disposed in said chamber and slidably associated with said seat and having passage means therein movable into and out of registry with said inlets, a lever having one end interconnected to the valve member and a journal intermediate the ends mounted in a journal bearing spaced from said seat for swinging movement in a single plane extending normal to said seat so as to move the valve member in a straight path aligned with said single plane and for rotation about the longitudinal axis so as to rotate the valve member about an axis fixed with respect to the valve member and always lying substantially in said single plane, the lever and/or the valve member being guided between opposed parallel plane surfaces lying normal to the seat respectively at opposite sides of said single plane, and at least one sealing ring in engagement with the journal for sealing said journal with respect to said journal bearing to prevent water leaking along the spindle from the chamber to atmosphere.

United States Patent 1191 Watts Feb. 26, 1974 MIXER TAPS [75] Inventor:Horace Watts, Pinner, England [73] Assignee: H. E. D; E. Limited,Middlesex,

England [22] Filed: Sept. 20, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 290,495

[52] US. Cl. 137/6254 [51] Int. Cl. Fl6k 11/00 [58] Field of Search137/6254, 625.41, 636.3

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,526,250 9/1970 Miller137/6254 3,435,849 4/1969 Von Corpon.... 137/6254 3,623,510 11/1971 Hareet al. 137/6363 3,324,884 6/1967 Dornaus 137/6363 X 3,372,710 3/1968Miller 137/6363 3,417,783 12/1968 Manoogian et al.. 137/625.4l 3,533,43610/1970 Parkison 137/6254 X 3,693,660 9/1972 Wheelock.... 137/6254Primary Examiner-Samuel Scott [5 7] ABSTRACT A mixing valve comprising achamber having a surface defining a valve seat, hot and cold waterinlets opening into said chamber at said seat, a valve member disposedin said chamber and slidably associated with said seat and havingpassage means therein movable into and out of registry with said inlets,a lever having one end interconnected to the valve member and a journalintermediate the ends mounted in a journal bearing spaced from said seatfor swinging movement in a single plane extending normal to said seat soas to move the valve member in a straight path aligned with said singleplane and for rotation about the longitudinal axis so as to rotate thevalve member about an axis fixed with respect to the valve member andalways lying substantially in said single plane, the lever and/or thevalve member being guided between opposed parallel plane surfaces lyingnormal to the seat respectively at opposite sides of said single plane,and at least one sealing ring in engagement with the journal for sealingsaid journal with respect to said journal bearing to prevent waterleaking along the spindle from the chamber to atmosphere.

4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEB FEB 2 6 I974 SHEET 1 OF 2 F/GPMIXER TAPS The invention relates to mixing taps or valves for combinedhot and cold water supplies of the kind having a single handle movablein two modes so as to select or mix the hot and cold water and tocontrol the volume thereof.

The invention provides a mixing valve comprising a chamber having asurface defining a valve seat, hot and cold water inlets opening intosaid chamber at said seat, a valve member disposed in said chamber andslidably associated with said seat and having passage means thereinmovable into and out of registry with said inlets, a lever having oneend interconnected to the valve member and a journal intermediate theends mounted in a journal bearing spaced from said seat for swingingmovement in a single plane extending normal to said seat so as to movethe valve member in a straight path aligned with said single plane andfor rotation about the longitudinal axis so as to rotate the valvemember about an axis fixed with respect to the valve member and alwayslying substantially in said single plane, the lever and/or the valvemember being guided between opposed parallel plane surfaces lying normalto the seat respectively at opposite sides of said single plane, and atleast one sealing ring in engagement with the journal for sealing saidjournal with respect to said journal bearing to prevent water leakingalong the spindle from the chamber to atmosphere.

A specific embodiment of the invention and various alternative formsthereof will now be described by way of example only and with referenceto the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation through a first embodiment of theinvention,

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation taken on line 2-2 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a cross section taken on line 33 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional detail view of a part of the mechanism shown inFIG. 2 and drawn to a somewhat larger scale than FIG. 2,

FIG. 5 is a sectional elevation through a second embodiment of theinvention, and

FIG. 6 is a cross section taken on line 6-@ in FIG. 5.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the invention wherein the valvebody 1 comprises a cylindrical casing 2, a discharge spout 3 which isbrazed to casing 2, and an insert 4 which is cemented or soldered intocasing 2. The insert 4 is provided, at its lower end, with ascrew-threaded extension 5, which in use projects through the tap holeof a sink or the like, and a backnut 6 and washer 7 are provided on thescrewthreaded extension 5 for clamping the unit in position on the sink.

At its upper end the insert 4 has a flat surface 8 which forms a valveseat 9 for a movable valve member 10. Inlet passages 11, 12 respectivelyfor hot and cold water extend longitudinally in the insert 4 andprovide, at the valve seat 9, a pair of inlet ports l3, l4. Inlet pipes15, 16, for connecting the valve to hot and cold water supplies, arebrazed into the bottom end of the insert 4 so that they connectrespectively with the passages 11, 12.

The valve member has upper and lower flat surfaces 17, 18 respectivelywhich are parallel to each other, and lower surface 18 has two passages19, 20

opening therefrom which co-operate respectively with the inlet ports 13,14 in valve seat 9 to control the flow of water through the valve, in amanner to be described.

An inner mounting member 21 overlies the valve member 10 to confine itagainst the valve seat 9 and is provided with a pair of lugs orextensions 22 which extend respectively at opposite sides of the valvemember and abut the valve seat 9. The space between the extensions 22constitutes a chamber 40 within which the valve member is located, saidchamber having a flat wall surface, that is to say the flat surface 8 ofthe insert 4, which constitutes a valve seat for the valve member. Thelugs 22 hold the undersurface 21a of mounting member 21 in spacedrelation with the valve seat 9 whereby the valve member 10 is keptslidably associated with said seat and prevented from tilting. An outermounting member 23 overlies the inner member 21, and the two members 21,23 are clamped together and against the valve seat 9 by a cover cap 24which is screwed into casing 2. In order to ensure correct angularorientation of the inner mounting member 21 with the inlet ports 13, 14,a pin 25 is provided in casing 2 and engages a complementary slot 26formed in the inner mounting member 21.

A lever 27 has one end interconnected to the valve member 10 and extendstherefrom through the mounting members 21, 23 and through the cover cap24 for connection to an operating handle 28a. Intermediate the ends thelever 27 is provided with a part-spherical journal 28 which engages apart-spherical seating 29 formed in the inner mounting member 21 and anoppositely directed part-spherical seating 30 formed in the outermounting member 23, whereby the lever journal 28 is journalled in abearing defined by the seatings 29, 30 and held therein in spacedrelation with the valve member 10.

A sealing ring 31 is trapped between members 21, 23 and positioned in anannular recess 32 formed in inner bearing member 21, and bears againstthe spherical journal 28 in sliding sealing relation to prevent waterleaking along the lever 27 past the journal to atmosphere. A furthersealing ring 33 provided between the inner mounting member 21 and boreof casing prevents leakage of water past the periphery of inner mountingmember 21 to atmosphere The lever 27 has a part-spherical end 34 whichengages a central recess 35 in the valve member 10, and a pin 36 fixedin the valve member 10 and extending across recess 35 engages a slot 37in the part-spherical end 34 of the lever. (The slot is shown open endedto facilitate assembly, but a closed slot would serve the same purposeand might be advantageous in the event it proves desirable to tie thelever and valve member together to facilitate withdrawal of the valvemember from the casing. Other methods of interconnecting the lever tothe valve member are also possible, for example the pin 36 could bepress fitted into a hole in the spherical end 34 of the lever so that itprojects outwardly therefrom and engages axially extending complimentaryslots or grooves formed in the valve member.)

The lugs 22 of the inner mounting member 21 respectively provide a pairof opposed parallel plane surfaces 38 which constitute side walls of thechamber 49 and engage a cam surface 39 formed on the valve member 10 toguide the valve member laterally in a straight path, and the cam surface39 has converging side faces 40 which respectively engage the planesurfaces 38 to limit rotation of the valve member to between twoangularly spaced positions. (See FIG. 3.)

The arrangement is such that swinging of the lever 27 in a single planenormal to the valve seat 9 effects movement of the valve member 10laterally in a straight path aligned with said single plane, androtation of the lever about its axis rotates the valve member 10. Theinter-connection of the lever with the valve member provides a modifiedform of Hookes coupling which allows the valve member to oscillate withrespect to the lever when rotated by the lever in positions other thanthe medial position shown in the drawings, in which latter position thevalve member will rotate without oscillating relative to the lever.

The inlet ports 13, 14 are counterbored to receive a pair of tubularsealing rings 41 of rubber or other suitably resilient material. Springs42 urge the sealing rings 41 into intimate sliding and sealing contactwith the flat underside 17 of the valve member 10, and the valve memberis thereby biased into sliding non-sealing contact with the innerbearing member 21. The sealing rings 41 are a sliding sealing fit in thecounterbore so that when the openings 19, 20 in the valve member 10 aremoved out of registry with the inlet ports 13, 14 the valve is shut off.

In FIGS. 1 to 3 the openings, 19, 20 in the valve member 10 are shownequally in register with the inlet ports 13, 14 whereby the valve wouldbe flowing equal amounts of hot and cold water. By swinging the lever insaid single plane either of the openings 20, 21 can be brought into fullregister with the associated inlet port whereby the other opening ismoved fully out of register with its associated inlet port and wherebythe valve would be flowing all hot water or all cold water respectively.The valve member can be rotated from any of the fully open positionsmentioned, to the fully closed position. Thus the temperature of thedischarge is controlled on swinging of the lever and the volume thereof,including shut-off, is controlled on rotation of the lever, and saidtemperature and volume may be controlled individually.

FIG. 4 illustrates the positioning of the O-ring seal 31 in analternative manner to that shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. Here the seal 31 islocated in an annular recess 32 formed in the part-spherical journal 28of the lever 27 and bears against the part-spherical seat 29 in theinner mounting member 21 in sliding sealing relation. In all otherrespects the valve is identical to the valve shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a second embodiment of the invention which is similarin certain respects to the valve shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 but which differstherefrom in certain other respects, and like items carry like referencenumbers.

The valve body 1 comprises a die cast casing 2 having an insert 4secured thereinto by cementing or like means. As in the embodimentdescribed above, the insert provides a flat valve seat 9 withcounterbored inlet ports 13, 14 having spring loaded tubular seals 41therein which co-operate with a valve member 10, and the valve member isslidably associated with the valve seat 9 for controlling the flow ofwater through the valve in the manner previously described for FIGS. 1to 3. Inlet pipes 15, 16 brazed into the underside of the insert 4communicate respectively with the inlet ports 13, 14 and pass throughthe base of the casing 2 and through an externally screwthreaded hollowextension 5 for interconnection in use to hot and cold water supplies,and extension 5 has a backnut 6 and washer 7 mounted thereon forclamping the unit to a sink or the like. A pullrod 43 is provided andextends vertically through the casing 2 and through the hollow extension5 side by side with the inlet pipes 20, 21 for interconnection in use tothe drain plug of a washbasin (not shown) in a known manner.

An inner mounting member 21, for mounting a lever 27, overlies the valvemember 10 to confine it against the flat valve seat 9 and to prevent ittilting. An outer mounting member 23 in turn overlies the mountingmember 21 and is prevented from moving axially outwards by a cover cap24 screwed to the casing 2. The space between the insert 4 and the innermounting member 21 in this case constitutes the chamber within which thevalve member is located, said chamber having a flat wall surface, thatis to say the flat top surface of the insert 4, which constitutes avalve seat for the valve member.

The lever 27 has a spherical journal 29, intermediate its ends, which isjoumalled for rotation in spherical seatings 29, 30 providedrespectively by inner mounting member 21 and outer mounting member 23.As in the embodiment described above, an O-ring 31 positioned adjacentthe seat 29 in a recess formed in the mounting member 21 seals thespherical journal 28 of the lever 27 with respect to the journal bearing(as defined by the seatings 29, 30), and a further O-ring 33 isinterposed between the mounting member 23 and the casing 2 to preventleakage to atmosphere past the outer periphery of the mounting member23.

As is more clearly shown in FIG. 6 the outer mounting member 23 isprovided with a radially elongated slot 44 through which the lever 27extends for connection to an operating handle 28a. The lever 28 includesa sleeve 45 of somewhat quadrate or rhomboidal cross section whichextends into the slot 44 in the mounting member 23 from the handle 28a,the sleeve and the lever being pinned together with a pin 46. The crosssectional shape of the sleeve 45 provides a pair of ears 47 which engagethe sides of the slot 44 to limit the rotation of the valve member 10 tobetween two angularly spaced positions corresponding to the on and offpositions of the valve.

The lever extends downwards through the bore 48 of the mounting member21, and interconnects with the valve member 10 in the manner describedearlier. Thus, swinging of the lever 27 in the single plane defined bythe parallel sidewalls of the elongate slot 44 causes the valve member10 to move back and forth in a straight path aligned with said planewhile rotation of the lever 27 causes the valve member 10 to rotateabout an axis normal to the valve seat.

The inner mounting member 21 is preferably provided with extensions (notshown) similar to the extensions 22 provided on mounting member 21 inthe first described embodiment although such extensions need not hereemploy parallel plane surfaces for guiding the valve member. Theextensions 22 are not here strictly necessary but such an arrangement isdesirable because it allows greater dimensional tolerances to be appliedto the various parts than otherwise would be the case and minimises thepossible tolerance build up inherent in for example arrangements whereineither the extensions are dispensed with or are not made to abut thevalve seat. The latter two arrangements could result in excessiveclearance occurring between the valve member and the surfaces betweenwhich it is confined unless tolerances were kept unpractically small. Ina known valve of a similar kind such clearance is adjusted oninstallation and necessitates a special key being supplied to thecustomer with each valve.

By employing extensions 22 the float of the valve member between thesurfaces confining it (i.e. 9 and 21 respectively) is determined by thetolerances allowed on two dimensions only, namely the height of thevalve member l0 and the length of the extensions 22, so that theallowable float of the valve member can be pre-determined toensurecorrect functioning. Furthermore the play of the lever journal in itsbearing can also be pre-determined independently of the float allowedthe valve member, so that friction is also kept to a minimum.

Various other arrangements are also possible, for example rotationlimiting means could be provided at the valve member and guidance meansat the lever, or vice versa, or the lever and the valve member couldboth be provided with rotation limiting means and guidance means.

It is not intended that the invention be limited to the embodimentsdescribed and illustrated herein. For example the invention may beemployed in the design of various fixtures such as a kitchen sink valvewherein the valve member is moved by a lever and is provided with aswivel outlet nozzle, or a bath/shower combination valve having twooutlets and known diverter means for routing water to either outlet ondemand, or a bidet valve wherein the outlet exists from the base surfaceside by side with the inlet conduits.

It is to be understood that the wall surface of the chamber whichconstitutes the valve seat need not necessarily be quite flat. It couldbe made slightly spherical, for example, the centre of curvature of thespherical wall surface preferably being the centre of curvature of thepart-spherical seating of the bearing in which the lever is mounted. Inthis case the valve member would have a surface of complimentary shape.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent ]l. A single handlemixing valve including a chamber having a wall surface constituting avalve seat; hot and cold water inlets opening into said chamber at saidsurface; a valve member disposed in said chamber and slidably associatedwith said valve seat; passages in said valve member movable into and outof registry with said water inlets; a lever having one endinterconnected with the valve member; means for guiding the lever in asingle plane for movement of said valve member by said lever in astraight line; means for transmitting rotation from said lever to saidvalve member for rotating said valve member by said lever, said meansbeing constituted by a sleeve which is carried by the lever, said sleevehaving radially extending cars which engage the parallel surfaces whichguide said lever in a single plane whereby the abutment of the ears withsaid parallel surfaces limits the rotation of the lever; means formounting said lever intermediate its ends, said means including abearing having a part-spherical journal engaging a part-sphericalseating; and sealing means interposed between said part-sphericaljournal and said partspherical seating for preventing the leakage ofwater from the chamber.

2. A single handle mixing valve according to claim 1, in which thesealing means which are provided between the part-spherical journal andits seating are constituted by a sealing ring disposed in an annularrecess in the seating to be located in a plane containing the center ofthe part-spherical journal and to bear against said journal in sealingrelation.

3. A single handle mixing valve including a chamber having a wallsurface constituting a valve seat; hot and cold water inlets openinginto said chamber at said surface; a valve member disposed in saidchamber and slidably associated with said valve seat; passages in saidvalve member movable into and out of registry with said water inlets; alever having one end interconnected with the valve member; means fortransmitting rotation from said lever to said valve member for rotatingsaid valve member by said lever, the valve member being provided withconverging side faces which can engage parallel plane surfacesconstituting side walls of the chamber to limit rotation of the valvemember to between two angularly spaced positions and to constitute meansfor guiding said valve member and lever in a single plane for movementof said valve member by said lever in a straight line; means formounting said lever intermediate its ends, said means including abearing having a part-spherical journal engaging a partsphericalseating; and sealing means interposed between said part-sphericaljournal and said partspherical seating for preventing the leakage ofwater from the chamber.

4. A single handle mixing valve according to claim 3, in which thesealing means which are provided between the part-spherical journal andits seating are constituted by a sealing ring disposed in an annularrecess in the seating to be located in a plane containing the center ofthe part-spherical journal and to bear against said journal in sealingrelation.

1. A single handle mixing valve including a chamber having a wallsurface constituting a valve seat; hot and cold water inlets openinginto said chamber at said surface; a valve member disposed in saidchamber and slidably associated with said valve seat; passages in saidvalve member movable into and out of registry with said water inlets; alever having one end interconnected with the valve member; means forguiding the lever in a single plane for movement of said valve member bysaid lever in a straight line; means for transmitting rotation from saidlever to said valve member for rotating said valve member by said lever,said means being constituted by a sleeve which is carried by the lever,said sleeve having radially extending ears which engage the parallelsurfaces which guide said lever in a single plane whereby the abutmentof the ears with said parallel surfaces limits the rotation of thelever; means for mounting said lever intermediate its ends, said meansincluding a bearing having a part-spherical journal engaging apart-spherical seating; and sealing means interposed between saidpart-spherical journal and said part-spherical seating for preventingthe leakage of water from the chamber.
 2. A single handle mixing valveaccording to claim 1, in which the sealing means which are providedbetween the part-spherical journal and its seating are constituted by asealing ring disposed in an annular recess in the seating to be locatedin a plane containing the center of the part-spherical journal and tobear against said journal in sealing relation.
 3. A single handle mixingvalve including a chamber having a wall surface constituting a valveseat; hot and cold water inlets opening into said chamber at saidsurface; a valve member disposed in said chamber and slidably associatedwith said valve seat; passages in said valve member movable into and outof registry with said water inlets; a lever having one endinterconnected with the valve member; means for transmitting rotationfrom said lever to said valve member for rotating said valve member bysaid lever, the valve member being provided with converging side faceswhich can engage parallel plane surfaces constituting side walls of thechamber to limit rotation of the valve member to between two angularlyspaced positions and to constitute means for guiding said valve memberand lever in a single plane for movement of said valve member by sAidlever in a straight line; means for mounting said lever intermediate itsends, said means including a bearing having a part-spherical journalengaging a part-spherical seating; and sealing means interposed betweensaid part-spherical journal and said part-spherical seating forpreventing the leakage of water from the chamber.
 4. A single handlemixing valve according to claim 3, in which the sealing means which areprovided between the part-spherical journal and its seating areconstituted by a sealing ring disposed in an annular recess in theseating to be located in a plane containing the center of thepart-spherical journal and to bear against said journal in sealingrelation.